Minnesota porch pirate leaves thank you note to victim

A Minnesota woman said a porch pirate left a thank you note after swiping a package from her front door, taunting her by signing it "the new owner of your package," KARE-TV reported.

On Wednesday, Hilary Smith said she received notification that a package -- a gift for her boss -- had been delivered to her home at noon, but when she got home at 5 p.m., the parcel was gone, the television station reported.

In place of the package was a note, which read, “So just a quick little thank you for leaving me the opportunity of stealing your package very nice of you.” The note was signed, "The new owner of your package.”

St. Paul police posted a photo of the note on their Facebook page Friday.

Smith could not believe the contents of the message, written on notebook paper.

"I looked down and there was a piece of notebook paper folded neatly on the top step. So I picked it up, read it, it basically was a 'thank you' note for letting me steal your package," Smith told WCCO. "I do appreciate a nicely-crafted 'thank you' note, but this is ridiculous. I was angry and confused and quite flabbergasted someone would actually leave a 'thank you' note when they steal a package."

St. Paul police called the incident “disturbing.”

"It is (disturbing), it means they took the extra step to go beyond stealing your package, just to-- salt in the wound -- to rub their nose in it," St. Paul police spokesman Sgt. Mike Ernster told KARE.

Smith said she went on social media to alert other people expecting packages to be vigilant.

"I just want to make sure that people know that this really is happening in the community and make sure they're aware that if you want to have a happy holiday season, they know to have their packages delivered to the appropriate place," Smith told KARE.

In their Facebook post, St. Paul police suggest ways to stop porch pirates:

"It's bad enough that we have to worry about people stealing our packages," St. Paul police wrote on Facebook. "But now they're leaving thank you notes? Bah humbug."